Pharmaceutical Resources slumps after Bear note

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Pharmaceutical Resources
PRX, +6.17%
shares slumped Thursday, paring the prior session's sharp gains, after Bear Stearns cited trade sources as saying that Schering-Plough has launched a generic version of the hepatitis C drug rebetol at a steep discount to PRX's version. Pharmaceutical Resources has the right to market rebetol through an agreement with Three Rivers, which only won final approval for a generic version of the drug on Wednesday. The drug, a key treatment for heptatis C, was previously sold by Schering-Plough and Roche. Bear Stearns analyst Joseph Riccardo said trade sources are saying that Schering-Plough's generic unit Warrick is pricing a version of rebetol at $3.50/capsule, a 50 percent discount to Three Rivers/PRX versions. "Warrick has crushed the market with no winners other than consumers," he said in a note. Bear Stearns is cutting 2004 and 2005 estimates for PRX. Shares were last down 9.6 percent at $55.31.

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